Josh Jenkins is back with a full preview of the 2025 AFL Opening Round.
Listen as JJ breaks down all the action for this week's matches, plus stay tuned for some exciting announcements as we kick off the new AFL season.
00:00 – The AFL Season is Back (kind of)
01:45 – Sydney Swans season preview
06:50 – Hawthorn season preview
09:42 – Sydney vs Hawthorn preview
10:18 – GWS vs Collingwood preview
14:11 – Should we keep Opening Round?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bad, sir, fly Okay, one left.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We're back.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We're back, We're back, We're kinder back. The AFL season
is here. The AFL season is here, Kinder. We've got
a cyclone bearing down on Southeast Quenslan in the first
in forty or fifty years. Therefore, not one but two
games in opening round have been postponed. My name is JJ,
(00:39):
Welcome to the field, and I was short and hopefully
shiny pod for you to listen to on your morning job,
lunchtime walk, maybe evening bike ride, whatever the case may be.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Maybe you're at pilates and you don't want.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
To talk to the person on the reformer beside you,
so you chuck the air pods in, or the beats
By dresin, whatever the case may be. Thanks for tuning in.
As I mentioned, disappointing opening round. We had four games scheduled,
we're down to two. So Brisbane, the reigning premier, who
(01:15):
were planning on unveiling their premiership flag in front of
the Cats, the team they beat in the prelim. That
game won't happen, nor will Gold Coast playing host to Essendon.
So the two games in Southeast Queensland both postponed, they'll
be played at a later date. At this stage Wednesday
(01:36):
afternoon as I'm sitting here at TBC when both those
games will be played. So two games on the slate,
the rest are on a bye. Sydney and Hawthorne now
opens the twenty twenty five Toyota AFL Premiership season at
the SCG AKA, the Sydney Cricket Ground. And what a
fascinating contest this will be the Swanees off the back
(02:01):
of a humiliating another humiliating Grand Final defeat, a sixty
point hammering where they were completely torn apart by the
Brisbane Lions. How do they react? How do they respond?
What do they look like under new coach Dean Cox
and what type of changes do they make? What type
(02:22):
of adjustments does Dean Cox wish to make. Cast your
mind back to Sydney Swan's games over the past couple
of years, even when they've been dominant, even when they've
been playing in games where they've been winning comprehensively, and
a lot of back and forth between Dean Cox and
John Longmeyer. I know the horse John Longmi would sit
(02:44):
on the bench a fair bit. Excuse the email, but
when they're in the box. You could often see Cox
and Longmire certainly having spirited debates about the way the
game's being played, and I wonder if some of that
was Dean Cock having a difference of opinion on the
way the team defended, which is something he's spoken about,
(03:06):
the way the team did or did not attack the contest,
which is something he's spoken about. The Swanees have really
fallen away badly. And loose ball gets a key metric
when it comes to contested possession. So when you see
someone in the AFL media talk about contested ball or
contested possession or they're beaten up in contested possession. Yes,
(03:29):
that can mean aerially contested marks, it can mean free kicks,
it can mean you and I are standing shoulder to
shoulder and winning the ball in a contested situation. But
what it largely means is loose ball gets ground ball
gets so when the ball spills, even though it might
(03:51):
be a contested situation per se, that still counts as
a contested possession. And Sydney really away in that phase
in that loose ball gets phase, which is a little.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Bit surprising to me. Now.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Part of it is because they do move the ball
so well, and they are quite slick with ball in hand,
and they do go from one end of the ground
to the other more so or as much as anyone
else in the competition. But that is interesting. When they've
got guys who are quite dynamic, who are fleet footed,
who can move, who can run, who are agile, that
(04:26):
is a bit of a surprise. So that's something Dean
Cox will be wishing to tidy up. But the reason
why I'm a little bit cool on the Swans now,
look in my top eight, which counts for absolutely stuff all.
I had them in fourth, but shit will not surprise
me if they missed the eight entirely. It will not
surprise me if the Sydneys once missed the eight totally,
(04:48):
because look, the scars and the mental anguish has to
be there, and I've lived this. We lost our Grand
Final to Richmond by eight goals, not sixty points, not
far off, but it was certainly very humiliating to go
there expected to either win the game or play incredibly
well and be hard to beat. Sydney exact same situation.
(05:11):
They'd been the number one seed all season long. That
arrived on Grand Final day with the experience of twenty
two under their belt and they didn't get it done,
and they got belted and they were hammered and the
game was over at halftime. So they've got to carry
that baggage all season long. And I've been really strong
on this point, this perspective. The Swans players and the
(05:33):
club as a whole have to find a way to
enjoy each week for what it is. Enjoy the wins
and endure the losses together and live in the moment.
Because if that football club lives in the space where
they only think they can rectify and they only think
they can enjoy their football again if they get back
(05:53):
to a Grand Final and win it, then they won't
get back there. Because in twenty eighteen, in the year
after we had lost a Grand Final, we won a
few games across the season. And you go on the
road and you play at Marvel Stadium in front of
twenty two thousand people, and you win a game you're
supposed to win by twelve goals and you win it
by three goals, and you make it feel like a loss.
(06:18):
You make it feel like you played terribly when in
actual fact, you didn't play great, but you still found
a way to win. A game of AFL footy, which
is not easy to do. So Sydney have to find
a way to enjoy each and every moment for what
it is. Live in the moment, be present and that'll
give themselves a chance to get back to Grand Final
(06:38):
they were. Of course, they'll be hoping to make amends.
So that's the Sydneys ones. I need to see them
before them all in on the Swanees for twenty five.
Hawthorne are similarish. They've also got to carry a burden.
They've got to carry the weight of expectation. Now Hawks
fans will probably be saying yeah, yeah, yeah, get something original,
(07:02):
but the reality is there is now a massive weight
of expectation on the Hawthorne foota club. Last year they
crept up on the competition and by the time the
competition had realized how good they were, they were a
snowball rolling down the hill. They were just off and gone.
(07:23):
They barely lost a game in the back half of
the season. They lost a couple that they should have
probably won and they were away.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I thought they were a little.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Disappointing in that semi final against Port Adelaide. I expected
them to get the job done, but they didn't, so
they start from scratch and they've got a more difficult draw.
Dyull've had teams spend more time, more opposition analysis on them.
What made them good last year? Why did they move
(07:53):
the ball so swiftly? How do they defend? What do
they do around stoppage? Do they send extra players around
the footy? Do they hold six forwards? Can you manipulate
their backs? Are they going to be two top heavy
down back with three maybe four key defenders at six
foot four and above? And then mechanically what does it
(08:15):
look like for them in the forward half. So Kelsha
Dear's got a Nigel to start the season. We know
Mitch lewis their Spearhead's not going to be there for
quite some time. Mabi or Chol had a fantastic season
versus what we expected from him. And then you've got
Jack Gunston, who liked the rest of us, is not
getting any younger. So can you expect the same output
(08:39):
from Gunston? Will you get the same output from mabior
Chol And will you get the same instant impact.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
More often than not from.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Luke Bruce if he used to play that sub role again,
and if those guys, if those bigger guys and older
guys don't have the seasons they had last year. Even
more weight of scoring and creating scores and winning the
ball in the forard half of the ground will fall
on the shoulders of Dylan Moore and Jack Ginovan and
(09:07):
Nick Watson and McKenzie and McDonald and do not get
me wrong, these guys are super players. But it's difficult
to ask those guys to be able to create enough
opportunities for others but also be the ones to kick goals.
Because if Chole's not having a big goal kicking season,
if Gunston's struggling, if Kelsha Deer takes a little longer
(09:31):
to come back and return to form, then all of
a sudden, those smalls are going to need to be
kicking ten or eleven goals between them. And that's a
big ask. So Sydney and Hawthorne look round one or
round zero, I should say, opening round the class will
tell us a fair bit, but it won't tell us
a full story. The only way I think you can
(09:53):
afford or should get carried away with this game is
if Sydney get absolutely hammered, because then may you do say, look,
Hawthorne have absolutely picked up where they left off. But
what do you make of the Sydney Swans. I think
it'll be a close game. I think it'll be hard
for it. And if you're looking for a tip, I've
got no idea, absolutely no idea. You're with GDWS and
(10:20):
Collingwood all of a sudden, this is an absolute blockbuster.
So Jesse Hogan bangs's thumb in the door of a bus,
something obscure, he's out, Jake string has got a hamstring niggle,
and Collingwood without Jordan de Goweye. Now, if you look
at those two losses, take Stringer out of it because
(10:42):
he's never been there. But Hogan out of GWS, I
think he's more impactful than de Goey out of Collingwood. Now, Hogan,
of course he's the reigning Colman Medalist, but that aside.
If you think about the way these two teams will
have planned, and you spend a lot of time time
planning and preparing for round or your first game, I've
(11:03):
got to stop saying round one. You spend a lot
of time preparing and planning for your first game. You
almost treat it like a final, You treat it almost
more importantly than you should and the reality is round
two and round three and round four are worth the
same and mean the same, but you just spend so
(11:23):
much more time preparing for the opening game of the season.
And for the Giants, they will have planned for this
game thinking Jesse Hogan would be their spearhead, would be
their main target inside forward fifty, would be the big
dog to command that forward line luck he did last year.
Whereas Collingwood, I'd imagine they will have known Jordan de
(11:47):
goey was unlikely to get to the start line, so
they're preparing, they're looking, they're setting their team up without
Jordan de Gooey, so it's no surprise to them, Whereas
it probably jolted the Giants a little bit to learn
their Coleman it'll winning. Key Ford was not going to
be there, so fascinating. The market basically flipped on its
(12:07):
head now it favors Collingwood with the news that Jesse
Hogan will miss the game. I think it'll be a ripper.
I think it'll be an absolute cracker. I reckon the
Giants will have some struggles trying to contain that half
back turnover game of Collingwood's. We saw it again in
the preseason. We saw them electrifying in that space and
(12:29):
that manner in their premiership year. So you think about
Crisp and sigh Bottom and Pendlebury and Dacos and Dacos
and the Pinsky and now Dan Houston, who's probably better
than all of those guys not named Nick Dakos in
that half back turnover game. You think about what those
guys can do as a group and what they can
(12:52):
do for their forwards because it's not a star starded
forward line for Collingwood. My checks back he's super important,
Ali it will be there. Bobby Hill is such a
key player for them, But it's a working class forward line.
It's a hard working forward line that does rely on
really good supply and really fast supply in space and
I think they'll get that against the Giants. The Giants
(13:14):
defense is a bit bigger, stronger with Taylor and Buckley
and Himmelberg. Those guys are set up to be the
ball coming in straight lines with less speed on it
and coming in high and long and those guys dealing
with the footy. So it's going to be a fascinating
battle of game styles. Can Collingwood get this game into
(13:34):
chaos and Ken, Whitfield and Himmelberg and Lockey Ash and
Kelly and Coninglio. Can they control the ball with uncontested marks?
I think if GWS can take one hundred and ten
one hundred and twenty uncontested marks in this game, they'll
be winning. If Collingwood can put this ball on the
ground and have the ball live largely on the ground
(13:58):
in chaos in contest, they'll probably win the game. So
two absolute crackers, even though we all.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Wish there were nine. You're within.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Couple of quick ones before I get out of here.
It's been fourteen minutes. I wanted to keep it to
ten opening round. Look, the closer it gets, the less
I like it. And not because a cyclone a hurricane
has interrupted half of opening round. We only had four
games to begin with. But the closer it gets, the
more I think. Look, I've got no problem. The A
(14:31):
in AFL stands for Australian, so I get it, I
understand it, and I'm all good with it. If you
want to open the season up in the Northern States,
that's fine. Have your Thursday not footy in New South
Wales or Queensland. Have Friday not footy in New South
Wales or Queensland. But I think we need to start
the season with all eighteen teams engaged. So it's a
(14:53):
long weekend. This weekend, we've got Labor Day Monday. Why
isn't there a big game of footy at the mc
or Marvel Stadium or wherever on Monday afternoon. It's going
to be beautiful weather, twenty five degrees, beautifully sunny. Don't
tell me you wouldn't get sixty or seventy thousand to
the MCG for a game between Carlton and Melbourne, or
(15:20):
Richmond and Melbourne or the Dogs in Carlton, one of
those big Melbourne clubs involved. Don't tell me you wouldn't
get a big crowd. So I think we've missed a
trick there. I understand the desire to go to the
Northern States to showcase the game. You can still achieve
that Andrew Dillon and Laura Kane. But when Saturday and
(15:40):
Sunday and maybe even Monday come around, let's have the
rest of the season get underway as well. It just
feels a bit disjointed. You've got some fans fully engaged,
some fans excited, others just annoyed at the fact the
season is starting but their team is not involved. It's
a fascinating situation. I get it, I seriously do. But
if if it were me in Andrew Dillon's seat, firstly,
(16:04):
I'll be counting the cash and secondly I'd be keeping
opening round. But I'd be playing all lady in teams.
All right, that's enough for me, I said ten minutes.
It's been sixteen. If your team is playing one of
four engaged in opening round, good luck. It's been a
long summer trade period. Doesn't feel like that long ago.
We're talking about Chad Warner and Harley Reid and Jamara
(16:26):
Yuglaghan and these guys moving already. But let's actually play
some games of footy.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Collingwood and the Giants and the Swane's and the Hawks.
The Swane's and the Hawks to open the season at
seven point forty this Friday night. If you are seeking
more AFL content, make sure you have a listen to
Kick Ons. It's a brand new show. Myself, Cane Corns
(16:53):
and Jason Richardson. We recorded the show this morning. It's
going to be after Thursday night forty each and every
week we're gonna try and find you a winner, but
mostly we're going to tackle the big issues. Caine and
I are going to go head to head. I'm not
gonna let him get away with anything. And We've got
a new little segment at the end of the show
(17:15):
called Khan Kine where I'm keeping an eye on Cane
Corn's He's on every platform known to man. He's got
a lot to say, he says it all, and whenever
he just misssteps and speaks out of school and potentially
contradicts himself.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I'll be there to catch him out.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
So make sure you check out kick Ons Thursday nights
after Thursday Night Footy, even though there's no footy, it
will be on this week.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And then Monday mornings.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
I'm jumping in with the clubby Sports team, myself, Adam
Patterson aka Pado, Josh Moffatt aka Moth, and Tommy Flannagan
aka Flanners. We're going to get round the table at
clubby Sports and we're gonna talk footy. We're going to
talk shop with Bigger Footy, a brand new podcast offering
(18:10):
from clubby Sports. So Thursday Night, kick Ons, Monday Morning
Slash Monday lunchtime bigger footy and hopefully you can still
tune into the field here, there and everywhere. Thanks for listening,
enjoy season twenty twenty five and I'll chat to you soon.
Bad, sir, fly Okay, one left.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We're back.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We're back, We're back, We're kinder back. The AFL season
is here. The AFL season is here, Kinder. We've got
a cyclone bearing down on Southeast Quenslan in the first
in forty or fifty years. Therefore, not one but two
games in opening round have been postponed. My name is JJ,
(00:39):
Welcome to the field, and I was short and hopefully
shiny pod for you to listen to on your morning job,
lunchtime walk, maybe evening bike ride, whatever the case may be.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Maybe you're at pilates and you don't want.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
To talk to the person on the reformer beside you,
so you chuck the air pods in, or the beats
By dresin, whatever the case may be. Thanks for tuning in.
As I mentioned, disappointing opening round. We had four games scheduled,
we're down to two. So Brisbane, the reigning premier, who
(01:15):
were planning on unveiling their premiership flag in front of
the Cats, the team they beat in the prelim. That
game won't happen, nor will Gold Coast playing host to Essendon.
So the two games in Southeast Queensland both postponed, they'll
be played at a later date. At this stage Wednesday
(01:36):
afternoon as I'm sitting here at TBC when both those
games will be played. So two games on the slate,
the rest are on a bye. Sydney and Hawthorne now
opens the twenty twenty five Toyota AFL Premiership season at
the SCG AKA, the Sydney Cricket Ground. And what a
fascinating contest this will be the Swanees off the back
(02:01):
of a humiliating another humiliating Grand Final defeat, a sixty
point hammering where they were completely torn apart by the
Brisbane Lions. How do they react? How do they respond?
What do they look like under new coach Dean Cox
and what type of changes do they make? What type
(02:22):
of adjustments does Dean Cox wish to make. Cast your
mind back to Sydney Swan's games over the past couple
of years, even when they've been dominant, even when they've
been playing in games where they've been winning comprehensively, and
a lot of back and forth between Dean Cox and
John Longmeyer. I know the horse John Longmi would sit
(02:44):
on the bench a fair bit. Excuse the email, but
when they're in the box. You could often see Cox
and Longmire certainly having spirited debates about the way the
game's being played, and I wonder if some of that
was Dean Cock having a difference of opinion on the
way the team defended, which is something he's spoken about,
(03:06):
the way the team did or did not attack the contest,
which is something he's spoken about. The Swanees have really
fallen away badly. And loose ball gets a key metric
when it comes to contested possession. So when you see
someone in the AFL media talk about contested ball or
contested possession or they're beaten up in contested possession. Yes,
(03:29):
that can mean aerially contested marks, it can mean free kicks,
it can mean you and I are standing shoulder to
shoulder and winning the ball in a contested situation. But
what it largely means is loose ball gets ground ball
gets so when the ball spills, even though it might
(03:51):
be a contested situation per se, that still counts as
a contested possession. And Sydney really away in that phase
in that loose ball gets phase, which is a little.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Bit surprising to me. Now.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Part of it is because they do move the ball
so well, and they are quite slick with ball in hand,
and they do go from one end of the ground
to the other more so or as much as anyone
else in the competition. But that is interesting. When they've
got guys who are quite dynamic, who are fleet footed,
who can move, who can run, who are agile, that
(04:26):
is a bit of a surprise. So that's something Dean
Cox will be wishing to tidy up. But the reason
why I'm a little bit cool on the Swans now,
look in my top eight, which counts for absolutely stuff all.
I had them in fourth, but shit will not surprise
me if they missed the eight entirely. It will not
surprise me if the Sydneys once missed the eight totally,
(04:48):
because look, the scars and the mental anguish has to
be there, and I've lived this. We lost our Grand
Final to Richmond by eight goals, not sixty points, not
far off, but it was certainly very humiliating to go
there expected to either win the game or play incredibly
well and be hard to beat. Sydney exact same situation.
(05:11):
They'd been the number one seed all season long. That
arrived on Grand Final day with the experience of twenty
two under their belt and they didn't get it done,
and they got belted and they were hammered and the
game was over at halftime. So they've got to carry
that baggage all season long. And I've been really strong
on this point, this perspective. The Swans players and the
(05:33):
club as a whole have to find a way to
enjoy each week for what it is. Enjoy the wins
and endure the losses together and live in the moment.
Because if that football club lives in the space where
they only think they can rectify and they only think
they can enjoy their football again if they get back
(05:53):
to a Grand Final and win it, then they won't
get back there. Because in twenty eighteen, in the year
after we had lost a Grand Final, we won a
few games across the season. And you go on the
road and you play at Marvel Stadium in front of
twenty two thousand people, and you win a game you're
supposed to win by twelve goals and you win it
by three goals, and you make it feel like a loss.
(06:18):
You make it feel like you played terribly when in
actual fact, you didn't play great, but you still found
a way to win. A game of AFL footy, which
is not easy to do. So Sydney have to find
a way to enjoy each and every moment for what
it is. Live in the moment, be present and that'll
give themselves a chance to get back to Grand Final
(06:38):
they were. Of course, they'll be hoping to make amends.
So that's the Sydneys ones. I need to see them
before them all in on the Swanees for twenty five.
Hawthorne are similarish. They've also got to carry a burden.
They've got to carry the weight of expectation. Now Hawks
fans will probably be saying yeah, yeah, yeah, get something original,
(07:02):
but the reality is there is now a massive weight
of expectation on the Hawthorne foota club. Last year they
crept up on the competition and by the time the
competition had realized how good they were, they were a
snowball rolling down the hill. They were just off and gone.
(07:23):
They barely lost a game in the back half of
the season. They lost a couple that they should have
probably won and they were away.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I thought they were a little.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Disappointing in that semi final against Port Adelaide. I expected
them to get the job done, but they didn't, so
they start from scratch and they've got a more difficult draw.
Dyull've had teams spend more time, more opposition analysis on them.
What made them good last year? Why did they move
(07:53):
the ball so swiftly? How do they defend? What do
they do around stoppage? Do they send extra players around
the footy? Do they hold six forwards? Can you manipulate
their backs? Are they going to be two top heavy
down back with three maybe four key defenders at six
foot four and above? And then mechanically what does it
(08:15):
look like for them in the forward half. So Kelsha
Dear's got a Nigel to start the season. We know
Mitch lewis their Spearhead's not going to be there for
quite some time. Mabi or Chol had a fantastic season
versus what we expected from him. And then you've got
Jack Gunston, who liked the rest of us, is not
getting any younger. So can you expect the same output
(08:39):
from Gunston? Will you get the same output from mabior
Chol And will you get the same instant impact.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
More often than not from.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Luke Bruce if he used to play that sub role again,
and if those guys, if those bigger guys and older
guys don't have the seasons they had last year. Even
more weight of scoring and creating scores and winning the
ball in the forard half of the ground will fall
on the shoulders of Dylan Moore and Jack Ginovan and
(09:07):
Nick Watson and McKenzie and McDonald and do not get
me wrong, these guys are super players. But it's difficult
to ask those guys to be able to create enough
opportunities for others but also be the ones to kick goals.
Because if Chole's not having a big goal kicking season,
if Gunston's struggling, if Kelsha Deer takes a little longer
(09:31):
to come back and return to form, then all of
a sudden, those smalls are going to need to be
kicking ten or eleven goals between them. And that's a
big ask. So Sydney and Hawthorne look round one or
round zero, I should say, opening round the class will
tell us a fair bit, but it won't tell us
a full story. The only way I think you can
(09:53):
afford or should get carried away with this game is
if Sydney get absolutely hammered, because then may you do say, look,
Hawthorne have absolutely picked up where they left off. But
what do you make of the Sydney Swans. I think
it'll be a close game. I think it'll be hard
for it. And if you're looking for a tip, I've
got no idea, absolutely no idea. You're with GDWS and
(10:20):
Collingwood all of a sudden, this is an absolute blockbuster.
So Jesse Hogan bangs's thumb in the door of a bus,
something obscure, he's out, Jake string has got a hamstring niggle,
and Collingwood without Jordan de Goweye. Now, if you look
at those two losses, take Stringer out of it because
(10:42):
he's never been there. But Hogan out of GWS, I
think he's more impactful than de Goey out of Collingwood. Now, Hogan,
of course he's the reigning Colman Medalist, but that aside.
If you think about the way these two teams will
have planned, and you spend a lot of time time
planning and preparing for round or your first game, I've
(11:03):
got to stop saying round one. You spend a lot
of time preparing and planning for your first game. You
almost treat it like a final, You treat it almost
more importantly than you should and the reality is round
two and round three and round four are worth the
same and mean the same, but you just spend so
(11:23):
much more time preparing for the opening game of the season.
And for the Giants, they will have planned for this
game thinking Jesse Hogan would be their spearhead, would be
their main target inside forward fifty, would be the big
dog to command that forward line luck he did last year.
Whereas Collingwood, I'd imagine they will have known Jordan de
(11:47):
goey was unlikely to get to the start line, so
they're preparing, they're looking, they're setting their team up without
Jordan de Gooey, so it's no surprise to them, Whereas
it probably jolted the Giants a little bit to learn
their Coleman it'll winning. Key Ford was not going to
be there, so fascinating. The market basically flipped on its
(12:07):
head now it favors Collingwood with the news that Jesse
Hogan will miss the game. I think it'll be a ripper.
I think it'll be an absolute cracker. I reckon the
Giants will have some struggles trying to contain that half
back turnover game of Collingwood's. We saw it again in
the preseason. We saw them electrifying in that space and
(12:29):
that manner in their premiership year. So you think about
Crisp and sigh Bottom and Pendlebury and Dacos and Dacos
and the Pinsky and now Dan Houston, who's probably better
than all of those guys not named Nick Dakos in
that half back turnover game. You think about what those
guys can do as a group and what they can
(12:52):
do for their forwards because it's not a star starded
forward line for Collingwood. My checks back he's super important,
Ali it will be there. Bobby Hill is such a
key player for them, But it's a working class forward line.
It's a hard working forward line that does rely on
really good supply and really fast supply in space and
I think they'll get that against the Giants. The Giants
(13:14):
defense is a bit bigger, stronger with Taylor and Buckley
and Himmelberg. Those guys are set up to be the
ball coming in straight lines with less speed on it
and coming in high and long and those guys dealing
with the footy. So it's going to be a fascinating
battle of game styles. Can Collingwood get this game into
(13:34):
chaos and Ken, Whitfield and Himmelberg and Lockey Ash and
Kelly and Coninglio. Can they control the ball with uncontested marks?
I think if GWS can take one hundred and ten
one hundred and twenty uncontested marks in this game, they'll
be winning. If Collingwood can put this ball on the
ground and have the ball live largely on the ground
(13:58):
in chaos in contest, they'll probably win the game. So
two absolute crackers, even though we all.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Wish there were nine. You're within.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Couple of quick ones before I get out of here.
It's been fourteen minutes. I wanted to keep it to
ten opening round. Look, the closer it gets, the less
I like it. And not because a cyclone a hurricane
has interrupted half of opening round. We only had four
games to begin with. But the closer it gets, the
more I think. Look, I've got no problem. The A
(14:31):
in AFL stands for Australian, so I get it, I
understand it, and I'm all good with it. If you
want to open the season up in the Northern States,
that's fine. Have your Thursday not footy in New South
Wales or Queensland. Have Friday not footy in New South
Wales or Queensland. But I think we need to start
the season with all eighteen teams engaged. So it's a
(14:53):
long weekend. This weekend, we've got Labor Day Monday. Why
isn't there a big game of footy at the mc
or Marvel Stadium or wherever on Monday afternoon. It's going
to be beautiful weather, twenty five degrees, beautifully sunny. Don't
tell me you wouldn't get sixty or seventy thousand to
the MCG for a game between Carlton and Melbourne, or
(15:20):
Richmond and Melbourne or the Dogs in Carlton, one of
those big Melbourne clubs involved. Don't tell me you wouldn't
get a big crowd. So I think we've missed a
trick there. I understand the desire to go to the
Northern States to showcase the game. You can still achieve
that Andrew Dillon and Laura Kane. But when Saturday and
(15:40):
Sunday and maybe even Monday come around, let's have the
rest of the season get underway as well. It just
feels a bit disjointed. You've got some fans fully engaged,
some fans excited, others just annoyed at the fact the
season is starting but their team is not involved. It's
a fascinating situation. I get it, I seriously do. But
if if it were me in Andrew Dillon's seat, firstly,
(16:04):
I'll be counting the cash and secondly I'd be keeping
opening round. But I'd be playing all lady in teams.
All right, that's enough for me, I said ten minutes.
It's been sixteen. If your team is playing one of
four engaged in opening round, good luck. It's been a
long summer trade period. Doesn't feel like that long ago.
We're talking about Chad Warner and Harley Reid and Jamara
(16:26):
Yuglaghan and these guys moving already. But let's actually play
some games of footy.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Collingwood and the Giants and the Swane's and the Hawks.
The Swane's and the Hawks to open the season at
seven point forty this Friday night. If you are seeking
more AFL content, make sure you have a listen to
Kick Ons. It's a brand new show. Myself, Cane Corns
(16:53):
and Jason Richardson. We recorded the show this morning. It's
going to be after Thursday night forty each and every
week we're gonna try and find you a winner, but
mostly we're going to tackle the big issues. Caine and
I are going to go head to head. I'm not
gonna let him get away with anything. And We've got
a new little segment at the end of the show
(17:15):
called Khan Kine where I'm keeping an eye on Cane
Corn's He's on every platform known to man. He's got
a lot to say, he says it all, and whenever
he just misssteps and speaks out of school and potentially
contradicts himself.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I'll be there to catch him out.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
So make sure you check out kick Ons Thursday nights
after Thursday Night Footy, even though there's no footy, it
will be on this week.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And then Monday mornings.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
I'm jumping in with the clubby Sports team, myself, Adam
Patterson aka Pado, Josh Moffatt aka Moth, and Tommy Flannagan
aka Flanners. We're going to get round the table at
clubby Sports and we're gonna talk footy. We're going to
talk shop with Bigger Footy, a brand new podcast offering
(18:10):
from clubby Sports. So Thursday Night, kick Ons, Monday Morning
Slash Monday lunchtime bigger footy and hopefully you can still
tune into the field here, there and everywhere. Thanks for listening,
enjoy season twenty twenty five and I'll chat to you soon.
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